Great Expectations: How the World Trade Organization’s Trade Facilitation Agreement Impacts Trade and Trade Cooperation

Abstract

Increasingly recognized as delivering a wide range of economic benefits, there are growing indications that the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA/the Agreement) also impacts trade cooperation and commerce in a broader sense. As governments progress with the implementation of the Accord, one finds it to change the way in which countries approach cooperation and negotiations at the multilateral level. By pursuing a new approach—resting on the premise that ‘free trade’, on its own, is not enough and that global trade also requires global trade cooperation to function effectively—the Agreement has already transformed the policy debate and spawned a new generation of ‘facilitating’ initiatives. The article reviews the state of the TFA’s implementation process and analyses whether initial expectations have been met. It also looks at the bigger picture and examines indications of new approaches, such as a paradigm shift in the focus of trade agreements and altered mindsets about how trade cooperation should advance in the future.